Bacon and Eggs

January Gardening

2012-01-25T10:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't showed you my ET tree yet. Can you see the pointing finger? I just love this thing! As you can see, it's part of my clothesline. Mars cut the top part of the tree off for a couple of fence posts and left me with a natural clothesline! Nothing like a re-purposed tree with some character.

We've been taking full advantage of the nice weather here in Oklahoma the past few days. Who ever said that winter is a slow time of the year sure hasn't been around here this week!
We just about have the main garden ready to till in the fertilizer and let it sit and "work" until next month. There's one more 100 ft row that needs to raked out but its just about ready for the next step.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but our neighbors have several horses. And where there are horses there is horse poop! Lots and lots of horse poop. We've been told to "help ourselves" to however much we want which is great. There's a bunch of it that's over a year old and that's the pile we will be loading up from. You just can't beat "free" manure. It's probably going to take several loads.

I know that we'll have to deal with the weeds that will come from it but it's just going to have to be that way. We still haven't worked out the mulch situation, but we'll figure something out. As this is the first year we have planted here I'm not sure what the outcome will be but hey, you have to start somewhere! With a garden this large though we should get something out of it! In a couple of years we should have some really nice dirt. I'm just happy that we have good stuff to start with.

The neighbor's chickens are laying again. They gave us these .
Sweet huh??

You can sure tell which ones are the store bought ones.
   Our own little chicken saga is continuing as well. Mars is working on a smallish enclosed outdoor run for them and the posts are set. We just need to pick up a few treated 2x4's to secure the chicken wire to. That's going to have to wait till the next check though as it's just not in our budget this month. We've got the wire and he's cut down the old telephone pole for the posts. We have the material here for the nesting boxes and have figured out what we'll use for the roosts too. So all we'll be "out" of pocket for are the 2x4's. It seems that this project has taken a lot longer than I ever thought it would. All in good time though I suppose.

   On another note, we met another neighbor who lives a couple miles up the road. He stopped by this weekend while he was out on his 4-wheeler and introduced himself. They have a deer processing business! He let us know that sometimes folks don't come pick up their deer for one reason or another and that we could get a good deal on some venison or hog occasionally. WOOT!! Right now he's got 70 lbs of venison he's asking $50 for. Sure do wish I had the money to move on THAT deal! Anyway....

   I should have known that I was worrying for nothing about having no place to start our indoor seeds. Mar's made us a shelf out of some scrap metal and old wood he had laying around. He mounted it on the one big window we have that gets good light most of the day. Sorry about the picture quality but its cloudy and rainy out today.

It's not very big but using the egg carton's we should be able to at least get some tomato and pepper plants started. A good friend of mine sent us several varieties of heirloom tomato seeds last year and I've got 5 varieties started so far. (Thanks Kronic!) Using the egg cartons we should have room for 120 plants in the window. Well, until they get bigger anyway! I guess we'll worry about that when we get there.... first we have to get them sprouted!
~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Cop or Soldier

2012-01-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

Don't laugh.... This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. If you want to see how you do HERE is the link.

Cop or Soldier? » online quiz

If you decide to take the quiz leave me a comment and let me know how YOU did. It's kind of scary to think how much the lines have started to blur. Don't worry if you score low, I've got a feeling many will.

Thanks to WireCutter for the link.

Peruvian Coffee and Other Stuff

2012-01-20T15:04:00.000-06:00

A while back a friend sent us some Peruvian Coffee Beans to try. I hate to admit it but we have only just now gotten around to roasting some and trying it. I followed the directions he'd given me a few months ago. Turned on the fan above the stove and put some of the beans in the skillet and got them good and hot. They kind of "crack" when they are roasting and do put off some smoke. Then I ground the beans and put on a pot of some of the best coffee I've had the privilege to drink! OH SO GOOD! I can't believe I hadn't tried it until now. I could get really spoiled with this stuff. Of course I can't afford it but dang.... Yummy!

I had to venture out and off the property this week. Twice even! It seems these days I really don't like even going to town, much less Little Big Town. It has to be done though. I took my grocery list and bit the bullet. Mars chickened out and wouldn't go with me. Said he had work to do on the garden... yeah... I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with the fact that I go to no less than four grocery stores. Garden indeed! lol Is it my fault that things are on sale or cheaper at one store over another? I have to admit I was in shock at the way prices are going up. Even from last month to this one there were increases. Meat, especially beef, is becoming darn near a luxury these days. Shopping the sales is the only way to be able to afford it lately.

And speaking of meat, I'm beginning to worry about the rabbits. We still haven't had any luck with them. They are all around 9-10 months now and still no babies. I've even re- checked them all to make sure I really do have does and bucks. I was talking with MMPaints about it and have decided that maybe they are getting fat. Does don't breed well if they are fat. So I've cut back on rations the past few days and will see if that helps. Something's got to give soon though. I'm not really fond of feeding rabbits that aren't going to be productive to our little homestead.

Another thing I'm not especially fond of is going to a new doctor. It always feels like I'm starting all over again. And the one thing I don't want to have to do is start over. But this time around it just couldn't be helped. It is no longer feasible to have to make a 100 mile round trip every month, especially with the way I detest going to "The Big City" anyway. Which is kind of funny really because you could probably put 3 towns of the same size inside the Austin area! So anyway, now I've met my new Doctor and am in the process of getting all my records to him. From the first visit I would have to say I think I'm going to like him. I've been going to a clinic for the past year or so and its a real rushed situation. The doctors don't have time to spend with you or even to listen to you. This man is different and I already appreciate the difference. We'll see how it goes.

Wow! I just re-read what I have written here and it struck me.... Boy do I NOT lead an exciting life! I'll admit it though, I kind of like the slower pace these days. That will change come spring but for now...   I'll take it!

                              ~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Tastey Tuesday

2012-01-17T09:35:00.000-06:00

Now I know what you are probably thinking. That's one ugly cake. Sometimes though, you can find the most amazing things underneath the surface, if only you can look past the outer appearance. This holds true in all of life's experience. This sure holds true with this cake. Pudding cakes were really popular back in the 80's. I'm not sure what happened but they kind of just faded out of the "foodie" crowd. It's a shame too because man oh man this is one good slice of chocolate heaven.

Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake

Ingredients
   1 cup all-purpose flour
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    2/3 cup white sugar
   5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
   1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup milk
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
    1 cup brown sugar
    1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    1 1/2 cups boiling water
Directions
    Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9 pan.
    Whisk the flour, baking powder, white sugar, 5 tablespoons cocoa powder, and the salt together in a large bowl. Mix in the milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Stir in nuts if you want and pour the batter into your prepared baking dish.
    Mix brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa powder together; and sprinkle over the batter in your baking dish. Pour the boiling water slowly over the top of the batter and topping.
    Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. The top of the cake will be set and the bottom will be soft. Spoon into individual serving bowls. To send this one over the edge top it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13 pan. I'm sure glad I did too because even with just the two of us here it was gone in under 3 days!
I was a bit nervous when I first made this. The final step of pouring the water over the top of the mix made it look like a soupy mess and I kept thinking.... I'm not really sure I did this right. Don't worry though. It all comes out great after it's time in the oven. A nice brownie-type layer on top hides a rich gooey sauce with the consistency of a kind of pudding underneath it.

Now this cake isn't served the ordinary way. You can't just slice it and serve it up. You have to scoop it out of the pan and flip it over on its "back" so to speak. (kind of like a cobbler) It's great like it is, but to really make this one a standout hit, serve it hot with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or a good dollop of whipped cream.

Sunday Ramblings

2012-01-15T18:03:00.000-06:00

I had this big ol' post all written this morning and thought I had saved it. Yeah, that didn't work! So here we go again. The weather here has been all over the place this past week. We had snow, temps down to 18 and up to 70. Sunshine and clouds, and even winds that blew gusts over 40mph. So we did what anyone would do.... Roll with it!
Mars has been working on the fence off and on and it's really looking good.

He and the neighbor have decided to rebuild our adjoining fence line as his wire needs to be re-stretched and some reinforcements done on it.

I'll take pictures as that gets done. They have decided to put in a gate between our properties as well. It will make it so much easier for everyone if we don't have to walk down the hill and around to his property. I'm just glad we have some good neighbors as they are the only ones within a quarter mile or so and are pretty much in our back yard!

Mars needs some more fence posts and so we spent a couple of days clearing brush and he cut down two of the dead cedar trees. They make awesome corner posts! It's also nice to have the area clear of (well almost) all that brush.

We burned a huge pile of brush and branches one day when the wind had stopped blowing.

It's amazing how much more area it opened up. It looks totally different now.

OH!! I never told you about our amazing Christmas present from my Mom and Step-dad. Mainly because we weren't sure what the plan was. Check this out! Pretty cool, yes?

They didn't know that we had bought a niceTroy-Bilt tiller last year. No worries though. We now have a plan! We are keeping this Bad Boy and will sell the Troy-Bilt in a couple of months. Spring is always a good time to put one out there on Craigslist. We are going to use the $$ from the sale to purchase the parts and materials necessary for installing a drip line irrigation system for the gardens. So in a way Mom got us a new tiller AND an irrigation system. Pretty cool.

This is what we have been up to this weekend. Trying to water a garden area as large as this one by hand would take all day every day to do.

The picture at the top of this post is the same area. I'm SO excited.
And of course there is the other garden area up the hill.
We will be tilling this up too. I don't know if you can see it here but there are three large rows that were done last spring. The bit of green still there are turnips.

So how was your weekend?

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T13:27:00.001-06:00

I've been taking pictures of the road in front of the house since last summer. Here is the one from yesterday. See that white stuff?? Woo Hooo!!!! I'm still enjoying the change of seasons here. Sure is different than it was in Texas!

Did you know that there are 3 Friday the 13th's this year? And that they are 13 weeks apart? Pretty interesting!

Here's a picture from yesterday.

And here is what it looks like today!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday. We are working out on the property clearing and burning some brush and "stuff".

~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Tattler Canning Lids

2012-01-12T10:08:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note today to let you all know about a super great deal on Tattler Canning Lids that's going on today only. I just love my Tattler lids and wish I could "move" on this great deal... but times are tough and money's tight. If you CAN afford to do it this is a super deal. 40% off 100 regular and 100 widemouth Tattler lids for $85.75 and FREE shipping! http://markdown.com/

Cutting Corners

2012-01-11T09:55:00.000-06:00

I've been trying forever to find new ways to make our very small fixed income stretch just a little bit farther. I've read every single article I've come across over the years that have anything at all to do with cutting debt and saving pennies. Before we moved from Texas many of these things had already put into place. We've never had credit cards and so have none of those debts that plague many folks. We sold all the vehicles and now have the old faithful Dodge diesel. Mars bought it before we moved from a friend of his and got a great deal on it. With good driving records we have a very small insurance payment. I shop around a couple of times a year to make sure we have the best rates available and only carry the minimum required by law.

We don't go out to eat anymore and cook most everything from scratch. I make our bread and bake our desserts as well. I grocery shop with a list and try to hit the sales for the best deals. I used coupons until the printer croaked and since we don't buy the Sunday paper anymore we don't get those either. I buy in bulk as much as I can. I know folks talk about all the good deals they find at places like Sam's and Costco, but I can't justify the annual expense of being a member. It just wouldn't save us as much as it cost for the membership.
Hopefully the garden will produce well this spring and summer and we will be able to cut back there as well since I plan on canning or dehydrating as much food as possible.

We have a landline phone because after doing all the research it was the cheapest way to go. Neither of us use the dang thing much anyway! If we could get away with it I think I would just disconnect it but with family in other states I just can't do that.

We don't have a TV and so don't have that to pay for although we DO still have our Netflix DVD account. Our internet is our "connection" to the world. Out here there are only a couple of choices for internet and so satellite is what we went with as it is the least expensive here. Unfortunately we have to watch the bandwidth we use. Let me tell you that THAT was the hardest thing to get used to. Until we moved out here I had never been limited to the amount of time spent or things downloaded on the net.
We no longer have a water bill as we are on well water now. Our stove runs on propane and averages out to about $6.00 a month. We go to town 2-3 times a month and so save on diesel that way.
We've pretty much done most everything we can to trim things back. Other than the land payment the biggest bill we run into has been the electric. We've been keeping the thermostat down to around 60 degrees this winter. Which is actually pretty comfortable. I LIKE wearing my winter clothes and don't mind layering them at all. But even with that our electric bill was HIGH.

I don't remember if I've ever said anything about the situation with our electric company. When we moved out here they hooked us up at what they call RV rates which are more than double the rate for regular homes. I was told at the time that once we got the trailer "permanently" on the land they would send someone out. He would then decide if we would be able to have our rates lowered. Well, once we got the trailer skirted in I called the electric company to let them know what we had done so they could send the guy out to check it. Imagine my surprise when I was told that "An RV is an RV no matter what you do to it". At first all I could think of to say was... "BUT...BUT...." YOU SAID...."
Anyway, I almost went into meltdown mode. You would be so proud of me though!! I calmly asked for a Supervisor and waited patiently for the callback. When she finally called that afternoon we had a very long conversation in which I explained to her what we had been told when the electricity was going in. She assured me that "An RV is an RV no matter what you do to it". I wanted to reach through the phone and let the choking begin!!! I explained all the things Mars has done out here to become "permanent" including wiring up the barn and the well. All the sudden she said "The barn? You have electricity in the barn?" Well of course we do, its dark in there.... lol Anyway, long story finally coming to an end now (I bet you're thinking "whew, bout time") They came out, looked at the wiring from the pole to the barn and POOF just like that our rates were cut to less than half of what they had been. Which means that $250.00 bill for last month is now running at right around $120.00. Quite the savings! Once spring gets here we will have that cut down to probably around $25.00. That danged heater is expensive to run....

I'll keep looking for ways to cut more corners but I think they've already been cut so much they are now round !!
~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Sunday Ramblings

2012-01-08T08:38:00.000-06:00

Some of y'all may remember there used to be an old house on this land. It burned down several years ago and a bunch of it had been hauled away before we ever got here. But there was still a good chunk of trash, old metal siding and the cinder block footings from the house. And of course all the old stuff that used to be in the barn. Years and years of rusty old junk. Large and small piles of ~~crap~~ stuff scattered all around the place.

We have been taking serious advantage of the beautiful weather we have been having. We've been burning trash and cleaning up things. We loaded up the truck with scrap metal and made a couple of trips over to Recycling center this week. Now you want to talk about a double bonus!! First off we get rid of all that ~~crap~~ stuff laying all over the place AND they actually PAID us for it!! It doesn't get much better than that. LOL I think we may have another two loads or so to take them but it's amazing how much better the place looks now.

When we first moved out here I had hoped that we could use all those cinder blocks that were once the footings on the old house. Unfortunately, the fire that destroyed the house also destroyed the "integrity" of the cinder blocks. Most just crumble or break when they are moved. Never one to be deterred, Mars decided that he could still put them to some good use around here. He's been breaking some of them up into small chunks and using them for "fill" in some of the low spots around here. Living on the side of a hill, things sometimes tend to wash down the hill when it rains. Not a lot but enough to make some low areas. He's filled in a good sized hole in driveway. And some was used on the back side of the barn where the rains had washed a small "gully" the back length of it. He's also crushing some and making walkways to the trailer. It's all a work in progress but I can see it shaping up. One of those things that gets attention while hes plotting the next project.

This week he's also been working on the fencing we are putting up for the goat run. I'm not exactly sure what you would call it.... so I'm calling it a goat run! Using dead cedar trees from the property he's making corner posts. (H-Posts I think you call them) It won't be much longer now and the fencing itself will be going up. It will be a 100 x 175 foot fenced in area when its all done. So that's progressing right along too. I don't have a lot to do with all of that other than to be the "gofer" and the "holder" of things. Like the tape measure, tools, etc.

I've also been trying to get our food storage inventoried and rearranged. I've been making use of the underbelly storage on the RV for quite some time now. The thing about that is that its really deep and doesn't have much height to it. It makes it hard to get to things that are stored towards the back. So I've been trying to get things lined out so it's easier to see and to use what we have.

So that's pretty much what we have been up to all week. It might not be very exciting but it's forward progress, which is the right direction to be moving in.
~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Amaranth

2012-01-05T04:20:00.000-06:00

I've been pouring over seed catalogs the past couple of weeks. One of the things we will be ordering this year is Amaranth. What an interesting plant.
I've become fascinated with it and have read many articles about it. I am surprised more people don't grow it. " The attraction of the crop to both earlier civilizations and modern consumers is the highly nutritious, golden seed. Amaranth seeds are unusually high in protein for a non-legume, running around 14 to 16% protein. Even better, the protein is well balanced in amino acids, and is high in lysine, an amino acid most grains are deficient in (legumes also have high lysine)." It's grown around the world. From Africa, India, China, Russia, South America and Mexico people use it for grain, greens, and ground for flour. The grain is similar to Quoina and can be used like rice or popped as a treat. The leaves are edible and similar to spinach. I'm hoping the rabbits will like it too but I'm pretty sure they will.
Amaranth is also drought tolerant and is supposed to grow well in many climates. It's actually in the pigweed family. Oh, and did I mention it is a beautiful plant ?? It has huge colorful seed heads. Shoot.... All that and pretty too??? I mean.... I've just GOT to try this! We have a perfect spot picked out to grow it too. It grows pretty tall and will make a nice "hedge" along the front of part of the property.
So with some of the generous Christmas donation from a wonderful reader (THANK YOU!!! You know who you are!!) one of the types of seed I'll be ordering is some Amaranth and giving it a shot this year.

As if that wasn't awesome enough, I got a big surprise in the mail yesterday. My Mom sent me an early birthday present. My birthday isn't till the 14th but she's good like that. LOL We were on the phone talking about the neighbors wanting us to take some of their chickens off their hands. Their rooster population is growing more than they want to deal with and they aren't "into" killing chickens. So if we will "help them out" they are going to give us some laying hens too. What a deal, right? I mentioned to my Mom that I wanted to get a big pot to dunk them in. Anyway..... (and yes, my conversations wander the same as my writing :P) Obviously she was listening closer than I thought. I was So surprised when I opened the box and saw this beautiful 16 quart stainless steel pot. I just love it!! It's going to get a workout for sure. It's even tall enough I can use it as a water bath canner for my quart jars. And boy oh boy I could sure make up a big ol' batch of soup or chili or beans or ..... Anyway, Thank you Mom and Sandy. It's an awesome present and will get much use.

Tasty Tuesday

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

Banana Bread

I'm pretty sure I've finally got one of the best Banana Bread recipes ever! I just love how dense and moist it is and it's not lacking in banana taste like some are. This recipe will make two loaves of bread. Which is a good thing because we devoured the first one in record time!
Banana Bread

Ingredients

    5 very ripe bananas
    4 eggs
    1 Cup Butter/ 2 sticks (you can substitute shortening if you need too)
   1 cup white sugar
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoon cinnamon
    1 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

    Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease 2 - 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a medium bowl, mash bananas and stir in the eggs until well blended. Set aside.
    In large bowl, beat shortening and gradually add sugar. Stir in vanilla and banana mixture. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; blend into batter. Add walnuts if desired. Divide between the prepared pans.
    Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Grab a cup of coffee and have a slice (or two)!

             ~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Free Seed Catalogs

2011-12-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

I love it when my seed catalogs start coming in!   Many of them have some wonderful tips and information that's new to me. I think I could spend hours reading them. Well I realized a few weeks ago that with moving out to the Hillside Homestead I wasn't going to get any catalogs if I didn't order them. So while I was poking around the net I compiled a list of Free Seed Catalogs from companies that carry heirloom and open pollinated seeds. I thought I would share some of the ones I found and some that have been favorites of mine for a long time. Oh and did I mention they are Free? I just love that word!

Free Catalog List ( heirloom/open-pollinated seeds)

Abundant Life
Baker Creek
Bountiful Gardens
Heirloom Acres Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Potato Garden
R.H. Shumway's
Sandhill Preservation Center
Seeds of Change
Seed Savers Exchange

This is in no way a complete list. It's just a start. If you have some that are your favorites, please share them with us!! I just love reading them. There is something I find wonderful about being able to hold them and flip the pages... I can make notes and use a highlighter too when I come across something "cool". ( Don't tell anyone but I even "ohhh and ahhh" over some of the things I want to try)
   ~~~~~~ Hey... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Goals for The New Year

2011-12-28T07:07:00.001-06:00

There are all sorts of things predicted for 2012 and to be honest.... until or unless they actually happen they are just that. Predictions. I can't fret and worry about what may or may not happen when there is so much to be accomplished around here. I'm not to fond of Resolutions either and would rather set goals which can be obtained. That's just us of course but it's what works around here. This past year our goals were pretty "lofty" but mostly attained.

We were able to find this little Hillside Homestead. Cleared and cleaned land, hauled off trash, cut trees, laid septic lines, electric lines and water lines. Skirted in the trailer and got everything winterized. Mars performed miracles and got the well working so now we have good water. We've built a nice barn that's been plumbed for water and electricity. The "chicken palace" has been completed. We have our starter rabbits. We even tried to raise a few vegetables through the drought this summer. The compost pile has been started for the garden. Yeah, it's been a good year! And since we didn't actually get moved out here until the spring I'd have to say it's been excellent.

So what's on the agenda for the New Year? We still need to get the fence put up for the chickens. It would just be easier (not to mention cheaper) to fence them in than fence them out of the entire garden.The neighbor has offered to give us a few hens to get started and I'm hoping to get some chicks this spring. He's also wanting us to take some roosters off his hands as he doesn't want to do any butchering. Not that he cares if we do or not... he just doesn't want to deal with it.

Goats are part of the goal this year as well. We have fencing but it needs to be put up. Of course there are all the "goat things" that go along with that. And I'm going to need a learning curve since I've never even been around goats before! From what other folks have said I've got some surprises coming my way! At least I have "goat people" that I can turn to for help and advise. LOL Bring on the Nanny Goats! What I don't understand is why everyone who knows me busts a gut laughing when I tell them I'm going to learn to milk a goat. What?????? (ok you can stop laughing now too!! )

We are going to be expanding our garden this year. What we had last year was just a sort of a start and it was a pretty late start at that. There were just so many other things going on that needed attention around here and of course the weather didn't cooperate in the least little bit. Big things in the works on that front this year. I'll share them with you as we come to them.

So there they are. Goals for the New Year. Wow, it all looks real simple on paper. But if we succeed in getting these things accomplished then at the end of it all we should be doing pretty well. Rabbits for meat and chickens for eggs and meat. Goat milk, cheese and cabrito. Vegetables from the garden. Yep now that would be living large for little ol' me! Not to mention being that much closer to our main goal of living as self sufficiently as we can.
~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Make a Memory

2011-12-24T07:25:00.001-06:00

I'd like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas this year. I hope it is filled with wondrous joy and love. I hope you make memories this year. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that will last a lifetime. Some might be a bit sad, or funny, or just leave a warm glow in your heart and a smile on your face. So my Christmas Wish to every single one of you is that you make a memory for someone this Christmas. It's not all that hard to do. Sometimes a smile and a kind word can work miracles.

~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Tickle Me Tuesday!

2011-12-20T10:09:00.004-06:00

Did you know that dolphins are so smart, that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand at the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?

For Those Who Wondered

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

We are spending our first Christmas on our little homestead. It's still hard to believe that our dream of being here has come true. This year won't be exactly the way we have celebrated in the past. Circumstances have helped to make that so. For one thing, I haven't put up a Christmas tree. There just isn't any room for one here in our little RV. Unless I hang one from the ceiling of course. When we downsized to this trailer I got rid of ALL my Christmas decorations. It would have literally taken half a U-Haul trailer to tote around all the stuff I used to have! I DO wish I had made up a little Christmas BOB (bug out bag) now though. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't think of it. I guess I was having a "senior moment". It's ok though because like I said the only place to put one would be hanging it from the ceiling. I DID put a tree up on my computer desktop though!!

Another difference this year is that we won't be exchanging gifts. Our gift to each other is knowing that our bills are paid and that we are able to pay the land taxes. For that we are truly grateful. Have you ever wondered what Guberment Scrooge came up with the idea to make taxes due right after Christmas? Geesh....

I haven't decided what I'll be making for Christmas dinner yet. I have been doing a bunch of baking here lately. I just love to bake this time of the year. I've been making cookies and cakes for us and to share with our neighbors. Mars even made some Peanut Butter Fudge the other day! Talk about yummy goodness!

I'm still trying to figure out if I want to go ahead and make a traditional Christmas meal or do something totally different. Maybe pick up a couple of nice steaks and put them on the grill. That would be a really simple meal and a nice one too! These days, with the cost of food skyrocketing, steaks are a real treat for us. Anyway.... I've still got almost a week ( ok ok 5 days) to decide what I want to do. I'll figure it out though because I'm NOT going to cook all day like I did at Thanksgiving! I refuse to go through THAT debacle again. LOL

Whatever we decide to do we will have a nice Christmas dinner together. We'll listen to Christmas music, make some phone calls to family and friends and watch a movie together in the evening. The seed catalogs are starting to come in now and so I think I might do an inventory of the seeds we have on hand and drool over the possibilities of what might be planted in the Spring. Heck, I might even make it a new Christmas tradition.

So for those of you who asked what our Christmas plans were this year... There ya go! The one thing I DO know is that we are blessed. There are so many families this year that won't have it half a good as we do this Christmas.

~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Saturday Morning

2011-12-17T07:28:00.002-06:00

It's a few minutes after 7am as I write this and I am blessed this morning with one of the most beautiful sunrises just outside my window. Beautiful tints of reds and oranges through the bare limbs of the trees and a layer of frost glittering on the ground. Often I don't get up early enough to enjoy them. Mars and I have our own sort of schedules, him usually being the early riser and me being the night owl will rise a bit later. Every once in awhile, for no apparent reason, things "change" a little as they did this morning and our situations reverse. So I sit here in the early morning light. the smell of fresh coffee brewing and watch the beginning of a beautiful December day.

~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Change (My Christmas Wish)

2011-12-13T09:21:00.000-06:00

This Christmas season I would like for us each to think about those who are so much less fortunate than we are. No matter how small the gesture, we can ALL do something to help ease the sadness, despair and loneliness that touches another person less fortunate than we are.

Each of us, no matter our situation CAN touch another person's life.

~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Lighten Up, It's Christmas!!

2011-12-12T14:19:00.000-06:00

Can you believe that Christmas is now LESS that two weeks away?? With all the hustle and bustle that goes in in many homes and all around town it seems that sometimes nerves can get frayed and things taken just a little bit to seriously.
So take a deep breath and take a couple of minutes (well 2:37) to listen to this. One of my favorite Christmas(y) songs!

Troublesome Times

2011-12-09T09:22:00.001-06:00

Prepping has come a long way in the past two - three years. When many of us first started in this "movement" prepping was an unfamiliar term. It was misunderstood and those of us who were into it were pretty much looked upon as a bit "odd". When you tried to talk to others about what you were doing you were most likely met with a blank stare or a rolling of the eyes as if to say "What a nut job!" Funny how things change in the face of a depression some would say is as bad or possibly worse than the Great Depression in the 1930's.

It seems that prepping has now become mainstream. Heck there are even television shows about preparedness and survival. On the local radio stations you now hear commercials for storeable foods and "survival seed vaults".   Even FEMA warns us that we should be prepared for emergencies. They tell us we should all have storeable food put away, water stored, and has even put out a list of things you should have on hand just in case of an emergency. I found this one especially informative.

Folks, we are in some troublesome times. On one hand you have all this mainstream attention to being prepared and on the other hand you have now all become potential domestic terrorists. You didn't know that?
The FBI ,in August of this year, issued a bulletin to Military Surplus Stores which included the buying bulk supplies of MRE's and even using cash to make purchases as possible terrorist activity which should be reported to authorities. Think I'm kidding? Read this FBI Bulletin .

And now I have come across this. The following is a quote from Stewart Rhodes, of OathKeepers   “A fellow veteran contacted me concerning a new and disturbing development. He had been utilizing a Mormon cannery near his home to purchase bulk food supplies. The man that manages the facility related to him that federal agents had visited the facility and demanded a list of individuals that had been purchasing bulk food. The manager informed the agents that the facility kept no such records and that all transactions were conducted on a cash-and-carry basis."

Think about that. Think about the implications. How is it that buying foods to help your family survive in these times that many of us know are coming? Are we now targets because we choose to prepare for uncertain times? Terrorists? How did this happen? How did we come so far down this tyrannical road? We are now seeing the beginning of what some of us have seen coming for a long time. And it seems to me that the "powers that be" are starting to worry about those of us who have chosen this prepping lifestyle. Those of us who have made a decision to live more independently and choose to care for ourselves and our families rather than depend on our government to do it for us. Now we are being considered potential terrorists for these actions.

The growth of the prepper movement into the mainstream seems to have become large enough to make "them" understand that we KNOW that things are bad and bound to get worse. It also seems to me that they are now worried about the fact that we DO know. Please read this article that came out just this week. Can you see the potential for disaster?
      ~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Hillbilly Pie

2011-12-06T10:13:00.001-06:00

Every year around this time I get the urge to bake. Cookies, pies, fudge, cakes. After spending the summer trying everything in my power NOT to cook in the house because of the heat it's wonderful to be able to fire up the oven and bake old stand by's and to try new things. I've already made a few batches of my favorite cookies and have taken them to the neighbors. Of course I had to make another batch for us to enjoy! I was looking around for a new recipe the other day, trying to find one that I had the ingredients on hand for and found this one. I wasn't sure if we would even like it because it sounded a little strange at first. I'm sure glad I did though because this one is a keeper!

   Hillbilly Pie

      Ingredients

    1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
    1/3 cup white sugar
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    1 unbaked 9 inch deep dish pie crust (I made two regular 9" instead)
    3 eggs, beaten
    1 cup corn syrup
    1 cup brown sugar, packed
    2 tablespoons butter, softened
    1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
    Combine the cream cheese, white sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in a bowl and blend until creamy. Spread the mixture into the bottom of the pie crust. Whisk together the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, flour, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in a separate bowl until combined; stir in the rolled oats. Pour the mixture over the cream cheese layer in the pie crust.
    Bake in preheated oven until center is set, about 60 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

This recipe says that it will make one 9" deep dish pie. Well I don't have a deep dish pan so I ended up making two regular pies instead. They really turned out great. Kind of like a pecan pie without the pecans. So if you are looking for something a little different and want to try something you probably have never tried before I think you might like it. You can see from the picture that my oven bakes a bit unevenly. It's one of those things that you just have to get used to. I have to move things around about halfway through the cook time (if I remember it).
      ~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

December Has Arrived

2011-12-04T08:36:00.001-06:00

It seems the weather has turned the corner on into winter here. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me as it IS the first week of December. I still find that I have to occasionally have to remind myself that I now live in a place that, although mild, has distinct seasons. It's been chilly and wet here the past few days and I've found myself hanging out in the house and drinking hot beverages and doing some baking. On today's agenda is another batch of bread. I've got a new pie recipe I'll share with you later this week. I figured that two recipe's in a row wouldn't be the right thing to do. Especially since my postings are spread a bit thin lately.

Mars has pretty much completed what he can do around here to winterize the place. There is still the window air conditioner unit to contend with but that's just a minor thing. The well house is insulated, all the water pipes are wrapped, and the RV has been skirted with the older tin from the barn. We will be on the lookout for some paint to "pretty" it up with but for now it serves its purpose.The water hoses, yard furniture and various things around the yard are all in the barn and the rabbits have been moved in there as well.

I've put away most all of our summer clothes and exchanged them for our winter ones. The only things I can't find are my good gloves and those awesome wrist-warmers that my friend Mushroom made for me last year. I'm still searching for those but at this point I'm not sure where else to look. <sigh> From the looks of the forecast for this coming week I better hustle up and figure out just where I might have put them. We are looking at highs in the low 40's during the day and down in the low 20's at night.

Now I know that for you guys up north this isn't really all that cold but just to give you guys an idea of what type of temperatures I'm accustomed to dealing with this time of year the forecast down in Texas is calling for the 60's during the day and in the mid 40's at night and that's only because they are having a bit of rain moving thru the area! I am really happy to hear that some of my Texas buddies are actually getting some of that wet stuff. Heaven knows they need all they can get down there.
~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

2011-12-01T07:00:00.002-06:00

Oh Boy do I have an awesome recipe to share with you! This is one of those super easy ones that whips up in no time flat and will have people begging for the recipe. It literally melts in your mouth.
"And if that ain't true, then grits ain't groceries!"

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie
(makes 2- 9" pies)

Ingredients

    1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
    1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
    1 cup peanut butter
    1 cup milk
    1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
    2 (9 inch) oreo cookie crusts (graham cracker crusts are awesome too)
Directions
    Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
    Spoon into two 9" pie shells; cover, and freeze until firm. For the best results freeze overnight.
If you want, top with whipped cream and sprinkle crushed oreo's on top.

This also works well using low-fat cream cheese and "lite" whipped topping.

Take this to your Christmas Party and watch it disappear!
~~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Uses for a FoodSaver

2011-11-28T11:17:00.000-06:00

Some of you who have been reading here already know of my long standing love affair with the FoodSaver. These things will pay for themselves in no time at all. Mars bought mine for me as a Christmas gift one year. Yeah, he's romantic like that! Truth be told though we both really wanted one and we caught a sweet deal on one.
There are tons of ways to use these wonderful tools. Most people are familiar with using the bags to freeze meats, vegetables and fruits. It keeps things just as fresh as the day you put them in the freezer. I've had meat that I have vacuum sealed and put in the freezer for over two years and when I took them out they were just as fresh as the day I sealed them. No more freezer burn! That alone would be enough to pay for one of these handy tools. But there is so much more you can do with a vacuum sealer.
     Our Foodsaver came with two rolls of bags, a vacuum hose, a wide mouth jar sealer and two canisters. It didn't take me long to figure out just how expensive those bags can be so these days I'm pretty particular about what I use them for. But the use of jars really started getting my attention. They make attachments that will seal canning jars using regular canning lids and they are pretty inexpensive. Ever wonder what to do with your used canning lids? Instead of tossing them I use them for vacuum sealing jars of dry foods like my home dehydrated foods, powdered milk, rice, beans etc... Just think, you can open a new can of coffee, pour it in a jar, seal it up and it will retain its freshness.
     If you look in your fridge right now I'll bet you probably have an onion. bell pepper, celery or some other vegetable stored in a zip-lock bag or a resealable bowl. Their shelf life isn't very long and I can't tell you just how much food I have tossed in the compost pile over the years because I didn't use it quickly enough. A good example is bell peppers. I don't usually use a whole bell pepper at once and used to toss the remaining pepper in a zip-lock bag. Stored this way they tend to go bad pretty quickly. I found that if I stored them in a vacuum sealed jar I could extend their shelf life by over twice as long. What used to last maybe a week will now keep for a month or more and retain it's freshness. The cost of food is rising so quickly that it just makes sense. I hardly ever toss out vegetables that have gone bad anymore.
   Another great thing to store in vacuum sealed jars is your cheese. I hate it when my cheese starts to mold in the fridge. Put your cheese in jars and vacuum seal after each use. You would be amazed at how long cheese will keep stored like this. With no mold either! I even store my leftovers in jars and seal them. Again, they just keep longer.
   I use jars to help with my food rotation as well. I have buckets of things stored and when I need to get into some of them, I don't need the whole bucketful. So I will fill a jar with powdered milk, rice, sugar, salt or "fill in the blank" and reseal the bucket. Then I just vacuum seal the jars after each use. The only problem with this is that I was using my canning jars for all these things and you know they are NOT cheap. Besides I need them for canning! Eventually you find yourself short on canning jars. So here I was using all my widemouth canning jars for storing dry goods and in the fridge. I didn't have ( and still don't) have a small mouth jar attachment. It set me to thinking. I went surfing the net and finally found a solution. And not just ANY solution. I not only found a way to seal my small mouth canning jars, but almost any glass jar that has a rubber gasket in the lid. Spaghetti sauce jars, jelly, peanut butter and mayonnaise jars. It doesn't matter what weird size lid it is. Even Pace picante jars with their weird shape can be recycled. The secret is... the large tall canister that came with my "package" deal. You can buy these separately at their site. You fill your recycled jar, put the lid on it and place it in the large canister and vacuum out the air. As you release the vacuum on the canister the jar lids will suck down and give you a good seal.
     Every so often you will get a jar that didn't seal. Wipe off the rim of the jar and make sure there are no chips in it, wipe the lid and reseal. This works great and I don't have to forfeit my canning jars anymore. Just be sure to check your jars for a good seal every once in awhile when you are doing your "pantry check". I have found that sometimes, even when using regular canning jars, they will sometimes loose their seal. Therefore, I recommend if you are using canning jars to store them with the band on the lid. You don't want a surprise when you go looking for that jar of dried carrots or something.
I found a decent video of how all this works and have it here.

There are tons of things you can do with a vacuum sealer. Not only are they good for storing foods, you can use them to make your own MRE type foods, vacuum seal things in your BOB to keep them airtight and compact and a gazillion other things. One thing that I would suggest though is to keep your vacuum sealer on the counter. You will be more inclined to use it if it is out where you can see it. Out of sight out of mind as it were.

Anyway... if you have a prepper on your Christmas list I would suggest thinking about one. They can save you so much money on food they can literally pay for themselves over a short amount of time. And if you don't already have one I'd start dropping hints now about what I wanted under my Christmas tree!!
      ~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~

Our First Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T04:20:00.001-06:00

Notice the missing parts? He couldn't wait another minute!

I had good intentions. I really did! It's the planning I didn't quite have worked out. I mean, it's not my first time to cook Thanksgiving Dinner. (although you might question that after today) I really hadn't even thought much about the dinner itself. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to do. Just a simple meal, nothing really fancy since it's just Mars and I here. And as far as he was concerned I could have made any old meal as long as I called him to dinner.   The one thing I knew I wasn't going to do was to go to town for any of it. If we didn't already have it here at the house already I wasn't going to make it. Since the oven in the RV is too small to hold a turkey I decided to just bake a whole chicken instead.

On Wednesday, instead of prepping things ahead of time,(yeah, what was I thinking, right?) I decided I should make cookies for the neighbors and for Bob down at the lumber yard. (more about that later) I made a huge batch of Snickerdoodles, and helped Mars some with the skirting on the trailer. I delivered "Bob the Builder" his cookes. Then "life" just sort of happened and before you know it the day was gone. I figured what the heck, It's just a simple meal and won't take much time at all to get it done in the morning. So off to bed I went. And didn't wake up till almost 9:30. I wasn't too upset though, heck I was just going to bake a chicken and some sweet potato's right?

So while I'm drinking coffee and checking out emails I got to thinking that well... it IS Thanksgiving. Maybe I should make some dressing (that's southern for stuffing) to go with that bird. I mean what's Thanksgiving without dressing? I ran through the items in my head that I'd need... ok no problem... I think I've got everything.

So as I'm making breakfast, I realized I only had a half a loaf of bread left and I was going to need it ALL for the stuffing. And if we were going to have chicken and dressing we were going to need something to sop up the gravy wouldn't we? So I needed to make some bread. I needed to make some anyway... But then I got to thinking... you can't just have bread with a Thanksgiving dinner can you? I'd need to make some rolls too. No problem, I'd just whip up a batch of dough before I got started on everything else.
Wait a second...Did I just say GRAVY? Where did that come from? But you know if you are going to have chicken and dressing you just have to have gravy right? I mean it IS Thanksgiving. And really, it isn't all hard and takes no time at all to whip up...

So now the menu was Chicken and Dressing with giblet gravy, baked sweet potato's ( I'm not crazy about the sweet potato casserole, thanks but no thanks) and homemade rolls. It sound's simple enough and traditional but then I got to thinking.... Man I would sure love some deviled eggs to go with that! Ok, easy enough, right? But wait!!! We need a desert of some kind don't we I mean it IS Thanksgiving and what would it be without dessert? I have a bunch of pumpkin spice pudding I got on sale last year that I could make pretty quick and I had some whipped topping in the freezer. I'd just need to go into the understorage on the trailer to find the pudding.

So I set out to make Thanksgiving Dinner. And apparently, looking back, I was having a "Blonde" day.

Step 1) Mix up the dough. Get hot water ready to "proof" my yeast. Grab the sugar canister.... empty! Go out to storage and fill the sugar up. Put sugar, yeast and water in the bowl and let it start working. Grab the flour cannister. Two cups left in it, need 6. (Darn, made cookies yesterday and used it all) Go to storage and get more flour. Mix the dough and let it rise for an hour or so.

Step 2) Slice up the half a loaf of bread to let it "air dry" for a bit. Chop celery and onion and set it in the fridge for later. Take the celery ends to the rabbits because they really like them.

Step 3) Put eggs on to boil for the Deviled Eggs. So far so good.

Step 4) Go out to the understorage to find the pudding. Unload several boxes before I realize what I need is in the BACK. Find the pudding mix and restack the boxes. Find a can of cranberry sauce. YaY!! What's dressing without cranberry sauce? This is when I find a can of pumpkin I forgot I had. Hmmmm.... boy, pumpkin pie sure would be good... Of course I've never made a pumpkin pie before but how hard could it be? And it IS Thanksgiving....

Step 5) Put cranberry sauce in the fridge. Look up recipe for Pumpkin Pie and realize that it's the same one that's on the can! Calls for evaporated milk. Which is in storage. Go out and unload a few boxes and find the milk. Hmmmm I'm going to need a pie shell. Look up a recipe for one that sounds simple enough.

Step 6) Dough is ready to form into rolls. Make two pans and a loaf of bread and let rise till doubled.   Put the rolls in the tiny oven to bake. Set the timer (because it is becoming apparent I'm not to be trusted today) Take a break because after all... it IS Thanksgiving.

Step 7) Put the second round of bread in the tiny oven to cook.

Step 8) Make the pie dough and wonder why it's not holding together like it should. Read the recipe and see where it says chill the dough first. Put it in the fridge and start mixing up the pumpkin filling. I can't find the ground cloves.... I have whole cloves. OK, break out the little spice grinder and try to grind them up. They don't grind up real well but at this point it is going to have to do. Take the pie dough out and it's better now. Roll out two pie crusts because the recipe says to make one deep dish pie and I don't have a deep dish.

Step 9) Take out the bread, put the pies in the oven and cross my fingers. Recipe says it should take aproximately an hour. Set the timer (because it's now my best friend)

Step 10) Put celery,onions and butter in pan to sautee for the dressing. Look for the poultry seasoning. There IS no poultry seasoning. Wonder if there is any in storage. Go out to look, pull out the boxes... nothing... put the boxes back and hit the internet (again) for a homemade poultry seasoning recipe. I actually have all the spices. I know this because I had just looked through every single one I have looking for the poultry seasoning. Wash the spice grinder (because it has clove powder stuck in it) Mix up seasoning and add to the celery and onions, cut bread cubes and add them and the other ingredients necessary. Set aside till I'm ready to do the chicken.

Step 11) Check the pie's. They are nowhere near done. Put them back in to cook and set the timer for 30 minutes. Check the clock. Realize that Thanksgiving Dinner is really going to be Thanksgiving Supper.

Step 12) Wash the chicken and am amazed that all the "innards" are in it. Season chicken and stuff with the dressing. Check the pies.... still not done. Set timer for another 15 minutes.

Step 13) Make the Deviled Eggs. Nothing went wrong.... weird.

Step 14) Start the "innards" in chicken stock and spices. Check the pies. Almost done. Set timer for 5 more minutes.

Step 15) Take a break cause after all it IS Thanksgiving.

Step 16) Pies are ready!!! Take out to cool and put chicken in. Set timer for 1 hour. Put sweet potato's in too.

Step 17) Realize I used all the eggs for deviled eggs and have none for the gravy. Put on some to boil and start the gravy.

Step 18) Wait for chicken to bake and eat a couple of rolls because I'm starving. Set out plates, etc for dinner. Open the can of cranberry and see its gone bad. At this point I'm no longer worried about it... Give me CHICKEN! Toss it out in the compost pile. Finish up the gravy. Check the clock. Almost time.... Check chicken and see that it is nowhere near done. It's going to be another hour. <sigh>

Step 19) Spend some quality time with Mars and hand him another roll. Talk about all the things we are thankful for this year, and how blessed we are to be here.

Step 20) Dinner is finally ready. Give thanks for all we have been blessed with this past year and eat till I'm about to pop.

In looking back, I realized that all this could have been a whole lot easier with at least SOME planning on my part. But I have to say that if nothing else it was a memorable Thanksgiving Dinner. Everything worked out and that's really all that matters in the end. It was still one of the best Thanksgiving's I've ever had.
      ~~~~~~ Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ... ~~~~~~